About 7 Days if You Do, a Whole Week if You Don’t

As I have this crummy cold, I am reminded of the old doctor’s joke that a cold will last about seven days if you stay home and take care of it, while it could take a whole week for you to get better if you don’t.

It would be nice if all diseases, particularly RA, could be so predictable. Being a micro-managing control freak, one of the hardest things about this disease is not knowing what to expect from it — not only how it will progress, but even how I will feel day to day.

The real blessing, as I see it, is the ability for those of us in the 21st century to have so much access to information. Not only information that the medical community puts out, but real people sharing their experiences through blogs and other forums. And while that information can’t predict how the disease will treat you, it does give you insight to other people’s experiences who are in the same phase of the disease and on similar treatment plans. You can take their experiences and apply them (mentally) to your situation and make better decisions.

So for all of you who have shared your experiences and helped me along my journey, I just want to say thank you, and please keep on keeping on. The more “real” information from real people — without all the medical, legal, and marketing hoopla — the better we all are.

I have my shoulder injected this afternoon, so I have no doubt that you’ll have a better day than I will. Thanks for checking in.

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2 thoughts on “About 7 Days if You Do, a Whole Week if You Don’t”

Erghhhh shoulder injections! You’re so brave! That’s one thing I’ve never been able to do, even when my doc offered. The very idea of a needle poking in between joints that were already so painful they made me sick to my stomach was just too much for me. I hope I never have to do it …

Okay, I’m over the willies now. I hope the injection mitigated your pain, Carla, and I hope that nasty cold will go soon, too. I agree that its unpredictability is one of the worst things about RA; it’s a constant plan-ruiner. Thank goodness we in this small community of people who have RA can talk to one another, even over huge distances. It’s very, very good.